Abstract:

Background:
The University of Derby (UoD) set up a COVID-19 asymptomatic test centre (ATC) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was initially staffed by academic staff and trained student workers; however, this model was not sustainable once academic staff had to return to their usual duties. For continuity of service, following the theory of legitimate peripheral participation, selected student workers were upskilled to become student supervisors who had responsibility for training, assessment, and leadership of student workers. Leadership and teamwork are key attributes for graduates going into health professions, so, despite the potential challenges of peer training, this provided opportunities for both parties to develop core skills for the workplace.

Potential student supervisors were noticed for going above and beyond what was expected, i.e. absorbing themselves in wider aspects of the community of practice (in this case, the ATC). They were then provided with more opportunities for participation, enabling them to master the skills to become “experts” and take on mentorship/supervision of other workers. However, we recognised that there may be tensions between opportunity for individual development and business needs – for us, this manifested as potential for conflict between student workers and newly elevated student supervisors, which may impact on effective and safe running of the ATC.

There is precedent for less formal peer mentorship and learning at UoD through a Peer Assisted Learning scheme, which provides paid opportunities for students to train and support newer students within their discipline as they transition into university life. However, this is a contrast to peer teaching at the ATC, where student supervisors engaged with student workers from across different disciplines and from all year groups – for example, one student supervisor was a first-year undergraduate biomedical science student who had responsibility for training and assessing a postgraduate nursing student, while others had to supervise friends from their course. In this research, we are exploring the effect such dynamics may have on student learning and employability skills.

Aims:
We are reviewing the impact of peer training upon both student workers and student supervisors, exploring strengths and challenges in this approach. Alongside this, we will also gain insight into the impact of working at the ATC upon employability skills.

Methods:
We are using a mixed methods approach to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Firstly, a survey will be used to gather data on perceptions of working with student workers/student supervisors; one survey will be aimed at student workers and a separate survey will be aimed at student supervisors. Results from these will then inform focus groups, where will be able to gather more detail on key themes; there will be one focus group for student workers and one for student supervisors.

Results:
We are still collecting data for this study, but once complete results will be analysed and written up for presentation and publication, with recommendations being made for how lessons learned can be translated into classroom scenarios.

Keywords:

Peer support, employability, peer assisted learning.